German insurer Munich Re profits surge in first quarter

The Munich Re logo and lettering pictured at the main entrance to the administrative building of Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG (Munich Re) in Munich's Schwabing district. The world's largest reinsurer Munich Re has revealed a surprisingly high profit at the start of the year. In the first quarter, the German DAX-listed group earned around €2.1 billion ($2.2 billion) according to preliminary figures reported on 23 April. Peter Kneffel/dpa

The world's largest reinsurer Munich Re has revealed a surprisingly high profit at the start of the year.

In the first quarter, the German DAX-listed group earned around €2.1 billion ($2.2 billion) according to preliminary figures reported on Tuesday.

This is almost two thirds more than a year earlier, thanks in part to lower major losses, and around €600 million more than analysts had expected on average.

For the current year, chief executive Joachim Wenning is still aiming for a surplus of €5 billion. However, the probability of exceeding this mark has now increased.

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